YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Wednesday received U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter.

Welcoming the guest, the President expressed satisfaction with the fact that since the establishment of diplomatic ties the Armenian-American interstate relations have constantly developed, the two friendly states approaching the 25th anniversary of establishing those ties with serious success achieved in the recent two-three years.

Sargsyan thanked the U.S. Government for many year of support in the economic development of Armenia, implementation of reforms in different spheres, as well as establishment of democracy and civil society. He also highly appreciated the role of the U.S. in maintaining stability in the region.

Apart from this, Sargsyan attached importance to the Armenian-American cooperation in the defense sphere, specifically underscoring the support of the American side in defense reforms, as well as capacity building in areas of battlefield medicine, humanitarian demining and peacekeeping in Armenia.

Sargsyan expressed hope that Michael Carpenter’s visit will also contribute to the further development of Armenian-American ties.

The interlocutors expressed satisfaction with the fact that the current high-level Armenian-American relations are based on the mutual respect and solidarity of the two peoples, Armenia and the U.S. currently having strong partnership ties both on bilateral and multilateral platforms.

For his part, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter expressed gratitude for Armenia’s input in peacekeeping operations.

President Sargsyan and Mr Carpenter also discussed issues related to the further development of cooperation in military, international and regional security areas.